Beautiful
by zutarafn1
Summary: It was the first time that they met nor would it be the last.When Yuna introduces Rikku to Baralai something begins to happen.The young Al Bhed and Yevonite fall in love.What will ensue in this relationship?Please review!rating may change due to content


Okay, I decided to do another Barikku fic; this is not part of the Sorry series. This is ever slightly AU. The reason why it is AU is because, Tidus is not in this story is that this is about a year before they start hunting for dresspheres, but they (Yuna, Rikku, Paine) still are wearing the ones they start out with in the beginning of the game. You know: Thief for Rikku, Gunner for Yuna, and warrior for Paine. Anyway, read on! Da da dah!!!!!

* * *

Chapter 1: Meetings

"Why do we have to meet them anyway? I already met Nooj, Gippal's my best friend from childhood, and what's so special about this Baralai guy anyway?" Rikku whined, spinning in the chair. Yuna briefly looked at her cousin, while still steering the Celsius.

"I just thought you would like to meet him and we could all go get dinner together. He's very nice. Besides, you're the only one who hasn't met him because you decided to fall asleep at the party last week."

"Excuse me for being tired!" Paine gave Rikku a small noogie.

"Just for the whining you just pulled, minus 100 respect points." Rikku gaped.

"No! I'm sorry!" she pleaded. "I'm already in the negatives!" she gave Paine a puppy dog look, clasping her hands together. Paine shook her finger.

"Not gonna work." They arrived shortly after the playful argument. Rikku's feet dragged on the ramp. She didn't want to walk around Bevelle, let alone with an annoying nitwit, Nooj, and someone, she hadn't met before.

"Pick up the pace Rikku!" Yuna shouted from the bottom of the ramp.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she hurried down the rest of the way, almost tripping when she hit the end of the ramp. She crossed her arms and stuck her bottom lip out. "Do we have to go? Couldn't we just get 'separated'?" Yuna glared at Rikku and Rikku threw her hands up. "It was just a suggestion."

"No. You're going through this with us whether you want to or not." Rikku kicked a rock and sighed. 'I just want to go home.'

"Rikku look out!" Paine called. She wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings at all and she bumped into someone very hard, making her fall on the ground. She looked up and found herself mesmerized by the man in front of her. She didn't even notice Nooj or Gippal. This man was different. He had silvery hair that hung in his face. His face was delicate and tanned and he bore the clothing of a Yevonite. When she looked into his eyes, her heart skipped a beat. They sparkled a light brown and seemed to dance in the disappearing sunlight. His voice sounded so caring and kind to her.

"I'm sorry. Lady-" he held his hand out and she graciously accepted his help. She began to blush a deep crimson when she touched his hand.

"Rikku." She said getting up. Gippal spoke and clasped his hands together annoyingly.

"Awwww…Looks like Cid's girl has a crush." Rikku turned purple and spoke with her teeth clinched.

"Shut up Gippal! I do not!" she put her hands on her cheeks. She noticed that the man in front of her wasn't laughing, but he was smiling ever so slightly. Was he thankful for the comment? She felt Yuna put a hand on her shoulder.

"Rikku, this is Baralai." Yuna removed her hand. Baralai took Rikku's hand.

"It's very nice to meet you Rikku." Then he kissed the top of her hand like a man from the Victorian period. He let her hand fall gently and she rubbed the back of her neck and scuffed her foot on the ground.

"It's n-nice to meet you too." Then she turned her gaze back to the ground until she felt her fiery hot cheeks cool down. Paine piped up, waving her hand around.

"Okay, Okay. Now that we're done with introductions, can we just go and get something to eat?" everyone agreed and began to walk.

"So where do you girls want to go?" Gippal asked looking at the appearing stars in the sky. Rikku trailed behind everyone else quietly, not being the hyperactive teen she usually was.

"Let's go some place nice ya know?" Yuna said and then began to laugh. "I'm beginning to sound like Wakka."

"I don't really care where; I just want some coffee and a bite to eat." Paine said coolly. "What about you Rikku?" no answer. She looked back at her friend who was watching her feet. "Rikku?" she looked up.

"Huh? Sorry, could you repeat that?"

"What would you like to eat?" she shrugged her shoulders. The quiet Baralai piped up.

"How about Heut' Ist Mein Tag?" everyone looked at Baralai with questioning looks except Rikku. She smiled lightly and cocked her head to the side.

"What's that mean Lai?" he hadn't expected that. No one had ever given him a nickname before. He liked it.

"It means, 'Today is my Day'." He paused and then continued. "It's fancy, but has a homey setting." They all agreed that was a good idea since they wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb in the other fancy restaurants. They continued walking and Rikku stayed a couple feet behind everyone. Baralai noticed that she was still walking by herself, so he slowed down his pace and began walking next to her. "So why are you being so quiet?" he saw her jump as he pulled her out of her thoughts and she turned pink again. He hadn't noticed it when he had first met her earlier, but she was very pretty. The way her long honeydew blonde hair clung to her face and hugged her back. How her braids flowed in the wind. He gazed at her body and how tan she was. How it complemented her thin, muscular, curvy figure. For some reason he wanted to feel if her skin was as soft as her hands had been. 'No stop it. You're a Praetor, show some respect Baralai. Don't think thoughts like that.' "From what I heard from Yuna at the party last week, you're always talking and bouncing around."

"I'm just thinking." She was thinking, but she couldn't say about what. It was about him that's what. She longed to get to know him better. Likes, dislikes, and whatnot. He was thinking the same thing. A cool breeze wafted around bringing her scent to his nose. He took a deep breath and noticed she smelled of the desert sun and blue Macalania moonflowers. Baralai noticed her shivering. "I guess I picked a bad day to wear my thief outfit." She hugged herself and then found that Baralai had placed his green jacket around her shoulders. She began to feel her cheeks getting hot. She put her arms through the sleeves. "Th-thank you."

"No problem." He held out his arm. She was hesitant, but linked arms with him anyway. He heard her stomach growl loudly. She put her index finger over her mouth and laughed. Hearing her laugh sounded like a melody to his ears.

"Sorry. I guess I'm hungrier than I thought." She closed her eyes and gave him a toothy smile. Her tanned skin made her smile even brighter. He laughed. His laugh sounded just as melodious as hers did to him.

"Well you're in luck. We're here." The six stepped inside and saw how crowded it was. "Oh that's right, it's a Friday isn't it?" Rikku handed Baralai back his jacket and he put it back on.

"Fraid so." Nooj chimed in. "Should we find another place to eat?" Baralai saw Rikku's face sadden. Baralai looked around and he saw a table for four and a one table for two.

"No, I see a table for four over there, and a table for two. You four go to that table and Rikku and I will take the table for two." The others nodded and he placed his hand on Rikku's bare back. This made her eyes widen and the blood rush to her face. He nudged her over to the table. Her skin felt flawless and smooth to his hand. He removed his hand and pulled out her chair. She sat down and he scooted her foreword. Then he sat down just as a waiter came to their table. The waiter set the menus in front of the two and spoke.

"Welcome. Thank you for coming, sorry that it's so crowded, Oh!" he did the bowing prayer. "Praetor Baralai. It's so nice to see you again and you have a girlfriend now. She's very pretty if I may say so." Rikku's throat became dry. 'Say something Baralai.'

"I must agree with you, she is very pretty, but sadly Rikku's not my girlfriend. Do have anything good on the special wine menu tonight?" 'Did he just call me pretty? I mean Yunie's pretty, but-me? W-wait, did he just say wine.' "Would you like that Rikku?"She stuttered.

"I-I've never had w-wine before." He smiled.

"Well Raul, since that's the case, we'll have some Raspberry Cordial." Rikku silently purred to herself. Raspberries were her favorite.

"Yes Praetor, I'll be right back." Baralai turned his gaze back to the Al Bhed.

"I thought that might be suitable. Since you haven't had wine before, we wouldn't want you to be drunk off your rocker would we?" he chuckled.

"I'd rather try wine when I'm at home. I don't want to make a fool of myself; of course I already do that." That made Baralai laugh some more.

"You're not a fool. I haven't seen you do anything remotely clumsy, you actually walk like an angel." The air left her lungs quickly. That was first time she had ever been hit on before. Well of course, Gippal did, but it was just a cruel joke. Raul came back with two wine glasses filled to the brim with the drink. He set the glasses on the table and left the bottle on the table.

"Are you ready to order?"

"I'm afraid not Raul. We need a few more minutes." Raul bowed and went to check on his other tables. He saw Rikku fiddling with her silverware. "Why don't you try it?" he motioned towards her drink. She was cautious at first, but then she lifted the glass to her lips. The flavored drink fizzed and bubbled all the way down her throat into her stomach. He saw her face light up with delight.

"Mmmm!" she licked her rose-colored lips. "Raspberries are my favorite." She took another quick sip and set the glass down.

"Then in that case, we made an excellent choice. Speaking of choices, we need to decide on what to eat." He picked out his order within a few seconds and he saw her still studying the menu. He put his chin in his hand. "Don't worry about how much it costs; I'll take care of it." He saw her turn carnation pink.

"I think that I'll have the fettuccini Alfredo then." A few moments later, Raul came back over to their table.

"Are you ready to order?"

"I believe so. I'll have the chicken parmesan and she'll take the Alfredo." Raul scribbled on his notepad, collected the menus, and walked away. Rikku began to play with one of her braids. "So do you have anything you like in particular? Aside from raspberries, I mean." She stopped fidgeting with her hair and rested her hands on the table.

"Well, I really, really like orchids and the color yellow. I also read a lot. Yunie and Paine said I should just go live in a Library because I read so much." He chuckled, thinking that he should show her the vast amount of books that he had in his personal library. "I can't think of anything else at the top of my head." She saw him constantly moving his bangs out of his eyes. She got out her extra blue headband, just like the one she was wearing now, out of her belt pocket. "Here," She leaned across the table, practically draping herself over it. Baralai leaned forward, trying not to look at the chest that was in front of his face. He stared at the ceiling until she finished, but admitting to himself that he only looked once. She sat back down. "That should help. I had the same problem when I first started using this dressphere, now I don't have any problems with my hair." She noticed how the color blue brought out his eyes a lot more.

"Thank you. That feels much better." After a few moments, their food was brought out to them. Baralai finished and studied how Rikku ate. She wasn't a messy eater, but she wasn't the cleanest one either. Himself on the other hand, he was careful not to drop a single bite of food on himself. He noticed that some of the sauce had dribbled onto her chin. He noticed how her mouth crooked to the side when she chewed and how she savored the flavors and spices in each bite. She was a cute eater. How anyone managed to ever look cute when eating, that was a complete mystery to him, but not anymore thanks to the blonde sitting across from him. She looked up from her plate.

"What is it Lai?" she asked in an innocent voice that made his heart pound. She watched as he took his napkin and dipped it in his glass of water. He leaned forward and proceeded to wipe her chin. He sat back down, placing the napkin back down the table. He watched her turn a deep shade of red. Her plate was empty and she was unsure of what to say. She decided to apologize. "S-sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" he said with a small smile.

"For being messy, I-" he cut her off.

"Trust me, you weren't being messy. You were eating really cute." She blushed even harder. Her bottom lip stuck out a little when she spoke.

"Nobody eats cute Lai." She stuck her two index fingers together.

"You do." She was on the verge of turning purple again and that made him smile. After this, Raul came back and he smiled seeing Rikku's current state.

"Mrs. Rikku, are you all right?" she nodded and didn't make eye contact. "Was everything good?"

"Like always." Baralai chirped.

"Would you like some desert?" Baralai looked at Rikku.

"Well, should we get some?" she looked up into his eyes, still blushing, and nodded. "I have the perfect desert." He motioned for Raul to lean forward and he began to whisper. Rikku raised an eyebrow, wondering what he had whispered because of Raul's reaction.

"She will surely love it!" he had a big smile on his face. He picked up the plates and silverware taking them to the kitchen.

"What did you order?" Baralai leaned back and his chair and just smiled.

"You'll see. I think you'll be very pleased with it." A few moments of silence passed until Rikku spoke.

"So…" she twiddled her fingers.

"So… what is it? Would like more to drink?" She shook her head. He poured a little more cordial into her glass. Raul came back about 10 minutes later carrying a tray with a lid over it. He instructed his assistant to move the flowers off the middle of the table and he set down the tray. He lifted the lid of the tray and Rikku became awestruck. It was a small angel food cake with white icing and strawberries on top. For some reason there were four small sticks around the edge of the cake. "That's not even best part." Raul took out a light and lit the 4 small sticks on the cake. Rikku moved her mouth but couldn't find the words. The sticks on the cake were sparklers. Baralai watched her smile light up the room. The sparklers finally died down and the assistant took them out of the cake. Raul and his assistant left Baralai and Rikku to their desert. "Aren't you going to try some?"

"I don't know. I'm not usually one for cake."

"Come on at least one bite." Rikku picked up her fork and took a piece with a strawberry on it. She stuck the bite in her mouth and began to melt. "See it's not so bad."

"Mmmm! That's good!" She purred with a big smile. "You need to try some." He shook his head.

"I already know what it tastes like." He blushed faintly because he was lying. Before he knew it Rikku had come to where he was sitting and sat on his lap facing him with a piece of cake. "R-Rikku what're you- you're making a scene." People had begun to stare, including their friends. The shy Praetor blushed a little more.

"I wouldn't have to make a scene if you would just try it." He let her place the cake in his mouth. "That is good." She smiled nodding, still on his lap. He ate the piece of cake and then took her hand and placed fingers on his lips and he kissed them. She began to blush furiously and jumped off of him and sat back down in her own seat. Rikku took a couple more bites of the cake. Baralai got the tab and they went to join their already finished friends.

"That place was well worth it huh?" Nooj asked the group.

"Yeah. The food was absolutely delicious!" Yuna answered and Paine and Baralai nodded. Rikku walked behind everyone else being quiet again. Gippal spoke up.

"I think Cid's Girl thought something, more than the food, was delicious." That brought her out of her world, blushing like mad.

"Gippal!" she put her hands on her flaming cheeks. Everyone chuckled, but Baralai. "Honestly! You pervert! I don't even know why I'm friends with you!" she crossed her arms angrily.

"So what should we do now? Find an inn maybe? It's too dark to go back to the airship." Paine mentioned.

"True." Nooj replied.

"You could all come to my place." Rikku's head shot up when Baralai mentioned this. "There's more than enough room for you all." They all agreed on this and began to make their way to Baralai's home.

* * *

"Here we are." He said flicking on the lights. The Yuna, Paine, and Rikku were amazed at the largeness of the mansion. "Why don't we find some rooms for you." They followed the white haired man down a hall. "Gippal and Nooj, you take this room." He pointed to the door.

"Night ladies. Try not to dream about Baralai too much Rikku." She turned red again and muttered something in Al Bhed under her breath. Nooj and Gippal stepped into their room. Baralai looked over at Rikku and smiled to himself. Even when she was angry she looked beautiful. The remaining four walked a little further down the hallway and came to mahogany door. "This should be suitable for three ladies like yourself." He opened the door and led them in. The room was rather large and colored a summery yellow. He watched as Rikku's brightened up with excitement. Without thinking she hugged him, the other girls gasping in awe.

"I can't believe you remembered." He chuckled lightly. She let go and looked around the rest of the room.

"I'll send a maid in with night clothes that should be suitable. For all of you." He turned to leave, but Rikku tugged on his jacket like a four year old. She began to blush and Paine and Yuna were watching the whole display. "Yes Ms. Rikku?" she spoke only a little above a whisper.

"If this is too sudden you don't have to answer, but I meant to ask at dinner, what type of girl do you like?" he smiled and couched down to her height, whispering in her ear.

"I like hyperactive, bouncy, blonde Al Bhed girls." He bought his lips to her cheek and he saw her face turn a bright pink. Then he left the room entirely.

* * *

"So what did Baralai say to you?" Yuna said as she sat down bouncily next to Rikku on her bed. Paine sat at Rikku's feet. Rikku sat up and they watched the 17 year old face as it turned pink again. "You've been blushing ever since you met the man you know." Her cousin said smiling.

"I-I don't want to say."

"All right, but I have to say something," Paine paused. "Don't wait too long. He won't be there forever." Rikku's eyes widened. How did Paine know she was in love with Baralai?" before Yuna could ask what Paine meant, there was a knock on the door. It was the maid with the pajamas.

"Here you are young misses." She quietly set the night clothes on Paine's bed, bowed, and left the room. They easily figured out which pajamas went to whom. Yuna's was the deep purple ones, Paine's were the black ones, and they were in shock about Rikku's. Her pajamas were the best of all of them. They were a light pink with black trim around the edge of the collar, sleeves, and pant legs. The bottoms were more like Capri's than pants like Yuna's or Paine's. After they got into their night clothes, they all went to bed except Rikku. She couldn't sleep for some reason. Tired of staring at the ceiling, she threw off her blankets and snuck out of her room to explore.

* * *

so what did you think all you barikku fans? please review and tell me your thoughts and anything you would like to see in the next chapter!

^-^


End file.
